Linda Hall, President of the Greater Salem Artists Association, presented me with the ribbon for People’s Choice Award for my painting Thirty Seven Ears. This was presented at the conclusion of the Greater Salem Artists Association Spring Show on April 20, 2013.
You can follow the painting process I used to produce this work in three lessons I’m presenting on this home page.
Bob H. and Armand B. have completed two new paintings this month. You can see these and all the other paintings the students at the Ingram Senior Center completed in 2012. Click on Student Works 2012 at the top of this page.
Every Painting Has a Story
A slide presentation of Fine Art created by Don Whittemore
I have been painting since 1976, starting with private lessons. I continued to study art history and visited museums while developing my painting skills. I provide free painting lessons at the Salem Senior Center, and semi-private workshops in small groups in my home studio for a fee.
Slide Show Presentation – 20 Paintings on Display
Painting Progress Photographs – Photograph Albums of All Paintings, Fine Scale Ship Models and Sculpture – Q & A Session
Kimball Library, 5 Academy Ave., Atkinson, NH
Tuesday, June 14th, 7:00 PM
Meeting Room
Roland finished his light house painting. Good Job, Roland! Mike finished his still life and it has good contrast and color. Another good job, Mike!
Tom L. has finished his painting of a sewing machine. An excellent job on a difficult subject. Tom has already signed up for a second class at the Ingram’s Seniors Center.
A small portrait of one of the Murphy’s chickens has been added to Paintings, 2010.
I completed this painting today. See the Paintings, 2010 page for the details.
Here is an update on three of my student’s paintings. Mike is creating a still life using several photos as a reference, and working on glassware with reflected and refracted light. Jim has finished another dog and will start a large (24 x 20) landscape next. Tom’s sewing machine is coming along well and almost done.
All of the class is doing well and taking on more challenging work with each painting. Keep up the good work!
The second chicken is almost complete. I used three different photos and arranged them in this composition. I am attempting to show how lively these birds are, and have painted them on a warm, bright, sandy background. The working title is Murphy’s Chickens. This painting should be complete in a couple of weeks. You can click on these photos for a larger version.
I was able to get close to this Red-wing Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) on the Pow Wow River last weekend. He was sitting on a jumble of old roots in a mud bank. This shows the general layout and the under-painting of the major elements. I usually tone the background before starting the work, but this time I am using the bright white of the gesso on the canvas. I want the colors to reflect the bright, sunny morning.
I always try to have two or three paintings in the works. This gives me a chance to switch to another piece if I’m experiencing difficulty with a particular painting. The next time I go back to the work I put aside, I can have a fresh look at it and can usually get past the difficult spot. I call this “letting it cook” and it always works.
I will be working on both of these paintings (and a couple of others) at the Mann’s Apple Orchard show next weekend. I will be demonstrating my painting techniques and showing three new paintings both days of the show. See the post below for additional information about the show. Hope to see you there.
I finished the layout and under-painting on the chickens, and started with the foreground dirt and the chicken on the left. That one is a Rhode Island Red. I put a grasshopper in his beak as a neat detail. I am trying to get the soft, fluffy look of the feathers, and some action in the placement of the birds.
Look at the tail of this bird, and you can see how I added successive strokes of color on top of the blue/green under-painting, gradually building up the mass of the feathers. This area still needs some color and shadow adjustments to finish it off.
These were very lively birds and I needed to use the “action” setting on the digital camera when taking a long shot. I also got some great close-up photos, and want to do a portrait of one of the birds next. I’ll add another photo when the second chicken is complete. Stay tuned.
Fine Art by Don Whittemore 